Protesters Gather In Detroit to Oppose U.S. Military Action In Syria

Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, at Grand Circus Park in downtown Detroit during a demonstration against US war threats on Syria. (Photo: Valerie Jean), a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

Protesters gather in Detroit to oppose U.S. military action in Syria

8:21 PM, September 8, 2013
By Bill Laitner
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

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Protesters gathered against US involvement in Syria at Grand Circus Park in Detroit

On a sunny Sunday when downtown Detroit teemed with sports fans crowing about the Lions’ victory, about 200 protesters gathered in Hart Plaza to voice opposition to President Barack Obama’s proposed U.S. military strike in Syria.

“Launching cruise missles against Syria will only bring about more bloodshed and will not do anything to protect human rights,” University of Michigan assistant professor of political science Michael Heaney told the crowd.

“This war can be stopped,” Heaney said, standing before a banner that said: “No U.S. /NATO / Israeli War — Hands off Syria!”

As the nation’s commander-in-chief, Obama could have launched a military strike last week but because he asked Congress for approval, “there is time to people to speak out and stop this,” Heaney said.

Organizers said they rushed to set up the event that began with a rally in Grand Circus Park. At 4 p.m., as tens of thousands of Lions fans headed for their cars, the protesters marched down Woodward Avenue with a police escort, then gathered at Hart Plaza.

Their rally against a U.S. intervention followed one held Friday in Birmingham, where hundreds shouted in support of a U.S. military action. Many of those at the pro-intervention rally have family ties to Syria, said organizer Sawsan Jabri, 45, of Ann Arbor. Michigan is home to more than 10,000 Syrian Americans.

“And many of us are planning to go to Washington for the big rally there on Monday” in support of a U.S. strike in their troubled homeland, said Jabri, a teacher at Washtenaw Community College.

The opposing messages reflect a rising debate across the country over whether the U.S. should attack the Syrian government battling rebels trying to unseat Syrian President Bashar Assad. Obama is expected to address the nation Tuesday as members of Congress prepare to vote on his plan.

“I don’t think bombing for peace will do anything positive,” said Caroline Addis, 31, of Harper Woods, one of the organizers of Sunday’s protest. Not even the Syrian military’s use of poisonous gas justifies using U.S. military force, said Addis, a graduate student at Wayne State University in aquatic ecology.

“Obviously, the knee-jerk reaction is to go in there and try to fix it, but this will just get us involved in another costly war that has no end,” she said.

The crowd at Sunday’s rally — a mix of young and old, with African Americans and whites as well as protesters of Arabic backgrounds — showed that a wide swath of Americans oppose a military response, said Abayomi Azikiwe, 56, of Detroit, another organizer of the event.

Standing at Hart Plaza with a Syrian flag in hand, Hanadi Harajli, 40, of Dearborn — a native of Lebanon — said she opposed U.S. intervention because “it’s the rebels that are bombing” Syrian civilians, more than the Syrian government forces.

Contact Bill Laitner: blaitner@freepress.com or 313-223-4485